A little-known subterranean street runs under some of the best-known buildings in Chicago's River North.

Built to house a chapter of the Knights Templar, this grandiose building is a relic of Freemasonry in Chicago a century ago.

Former hotel turned into haunted playground.

River pirates, murderous bandits, and serial killers used this Illinois cave as their debauched hideout.

Each of these gorgeous, intricately decorated rooms is painstakingly crafted to the scale of 1 inch: 1 foot.

Internationally known record store and purveyor of "dusties."

Shop of curiosities with a dinosaur museum tucked in its basement.

A once-booming Mississippi River town with a history of racial violence is now eerie and mostly abandoned.

The subtle science of a master molecular gastronomist.

This unauthorized stone mermaid was secretly carved out of public stone before being permanently preserved.

A science teacher's dream.

An antiquated German apothecary on Chicago's North Side.

A haunting statue called "Eternal Silence" has quite the reputation among visitors with active imaginations.

An enormous park-like oasis, full of famous Chicagoans' graves.

A giant bronze coil of feces is both a tribute to doggie defecation and a reminder to pick it up.

This shop for all your super spy needs hides an educational secret.

This morbid, delightful curiosity shop offers everything from animal bones to human teeth.

The carved remains of a 200-year-old oak tree memorialize the namesake of the iconic "Wizard of Oz" character.

Buy a token from the liquor store and you can make this beast spew flames on command.

The famous Beatle secretly visited this Illinois town several times to visit his sister.

In the Shawnee National Forest, amazing rock formations peer through the treeline.